Never Came Back
by sPIKEaNDmE
Summary: What if Buffy could stop the last apocalypse without anyone being killed or hurt? Catch you ask? She must travel across the world to do so. No one from Sunnydale can help.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own everything. I own... Joss Whedon, BtVS, Angel, and all the yummy characters. Yeah go me. Sorry back to reality oops there goes gravity. (Sorry momentary loss of sanity.) It's back now! I really own a pair of socks and some clothes, other than that... ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING god I hate my life.

Summary: What if Buffy could stop the last apocalypse without anyone being killed or hurt? Catch you ask? She must travel across the world to do so. No one from Sunnydale can help.

Season 7 goes AU after the episode Empty Places

A/N: Hey guys, my computer was down when I originally wrote this story, so it had a lot of mistakes. So what I finally did was re-write it, and fix it a little bit. This story I got from watching Empty Places. I was thinking what if Buffy never came back to Revello drive and stopped the war without any one's help? How would Faith, Rona, Giles, Kennedy, Wood and everyone else who opened their damn mouths when they were _'voting for the leader'_ Blah stupid people. No wonder why she can't trust them. Hate them all. No I love Xander, he is so funny, always gives me a happy. hehe. Well now on with the story.

**Never Came Back**

**Prologue**

Buffy walked into the vineyard looking for a kill. She fended off all the Bringers that came her way. She even killed a few ubervamps on the way to Caleb.

"Caleb! Get your preacher ass out here! I'm ending this once and for all."

"Well, if it isn't miss slayer. What ever do you want?"

"I want this ended. I just lost all my friends because of you." They broke into battle. Buffy was dominating the whole fight.

"How do I stop the first, Caleb? Tell me and I'll make it painless. If you don't then you'll wish I'd kill you."

"I'll never tell you anything," he said with worthless bravery. She took out her sword and pushed it slowly into an open wound over his heart.

"OW! Okay. You see that scroll over there." He pointed to her left and Buffy released some pressure off the wound. "Take it. It will give you your answers. Now, release me or kill me." She thrust the sword into his heart instantly killing him. She grabbed the scroll, took one look at it and ran out. 'Its' all Greek to me,' she thought. Coming out of the vineyard, she saw Spike.

"How was the mission?"

"Great." He looked down to the scroll. "Yet, now it seemed pointless. You already have the scroll."

"Well, I can't read a damn word of it, but I know who can."

"Willy! Get out here now!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa slayer hey, hi. What brings you and, uh, Spike here at this late an hour?" She threw the scroll at him. "Translate it."

"Well okay. Write this down. 'Pieces of the Danzalthar. Trav-'"

"Danzalthar that's the seal right?"

"Yeah. Now no interruptions. 'Pieces of the Danzalthar. Travel from hart to hart. Across the ocean it must go to part. This is how you'll end your war and when that's done Danzalthar will soar. You'll need the slayer's weapon which you'll get when you Rome to kill him you must lure him into the famous dome. When all that's done you're free to go. But home is not home you must know."

"Oh great. It's all riddles. I was always good at these," the slayer said sarcastically.

"Don't worry luv, will figure it out."

"Okay so from someone's heart to another."

"No, slayer," Willy said. "H-a-r-t as in the lawyer from the law firm WolfRam&Hart. It's in La. From what I hear, your boy Angel's going to be running it soon." Spike growled at the mention of his grand-sire's name.

"So I go there... why?"

"Well, pieces of the Danzalthar, the seal, so you tear it apart, luv, bring it to La. Then one across the ocean." He contemplated the next few lines. "Then I guess, the demon will rise, you kill it with the slayer's weapon."

"Yeah, Slayer. Which you'll get in, uh, Rome I guess."

"Oooo. Then I get to kill it in that famous gladiator's dome thing-y."

"Pet, I'm terribly surprised at you. You know your Rome."

"Shut up Spike."

"Uh guys... what about the last part? IS something going to happen to Sunny-D that will make it change? Oh Shit! I'm so out of here. BYE!" Willy ran out of the bar. Buffy and Spike hears the tires screeching as he drove off.

"Spike, I clearly have to do this by myself. Go to my pace and get everyone out. Make sure Dawn is safe. Make sure she takes her cell so I can reach you guys later, if I make it that is. If you don't hear from me in a, uhh, month, then assume the worst. Don't come looking for me. Stay with Dawn. Tell them I love them all." She stopped tears in both their eyes. "Spike? Do you still love me?" At his nod she asked, "Why?"

"A hundred plus years and there's only one thing I'm sure of. You. I won't ever ask you for anything. When I say I love you. It's not because I want you, or I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do. How you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity what you are. You're a _hell_ of a woman. You're the one, Buffy. You might not want to be the one, but I don't want to be this good-looking and athletic. We all have crosses to bear."

"Spike, I want to be the one." She closed in on him and crashed their lips together.

"Spike I love you."

"No you don't But-"

"No, Spike, I love you. No more games. We can't take any more. Now I've got to go. Get them to leave Sunnydale, Spike, I'm counting on you. Protect them."

"Till the end of the world, luv. Here take my Desoto. It's behind my old crypt. Now get going. Go be a hero.

"Okay." She kissed him passionately on more time. "Remember, I love you."


	2. Chapter 1: Leaving

**Chapter 1: Leaving**

"You are all bloody worthless pieces of bloody crap. You know that right?" Spike stated as he walked into the house.

"Spike? I thought we kicked you out for good?" Faith called from inside the living room where everyone was getting ready to go to the vineyard.

"And leave you ungrateful ponces to fend for your own arses? I don't think so."

"So tell me. Why are we worthless again?"

"Because you don't know how good you guys had it. You kicked out Buffy yet she goes into the vineyard, alone I may add. Kills a lot of bringers and the stupid bloody ubervamps. Meets up with Caleb-"

"Caleb?" Giles questions. "Is she alright?"

"Oh, now you're worried. Too late. She already killed him. She has the thing she was going to get before you kicked her out and now she is off to save the world. All we can do is get out of town and hope she doesn't die again!" He turned to look at Dawn. "Bit, get your stuff and your cell. You're coming with me whether you like it or not. Red, whelp, Anya, and Rupert you can come with me or not. I got us a school bus. Every one is welcome, but you five are mandatory. Buffy will never forgive me if I don't get at least you five out of Sunnyhell before it all goes boom or what ever the hell it is supposed to do. Now-"

"Wait a minute, who put you in charge?" Kennedy questioned.

"I did! You got a problem?" Spike retorted.

"Yes I do actually."

"Fine you stupid bint. You're not coming on my bloody bus. Now as I was saying. I'm leaving in ten minutes. If you're not on the bloody bus, too bad." They all looked at each other and then at him. With a nod from Faith they all hurried to gather all of the five items they owned.

"Spike? Is she really okay?" Dawn asked him when she was done packing.

"Yeah, bit. She is a tiny bit hurt, emotionally, but nothing major."

"Why do we have to leave?"

"Some time soon, something bad is going to happen to Sunnyhell."

------------------------------------------------

Buffy walked into the school with dome weapons she found at Spike's crypt. It was going to take a lot more than her slayer skills to pull apart this baby, with out awakening it. But a little after ten minutes she had it all into the car.

'For once I am glad Spike has this car.' She thought to herself. She drove down to La and went onto the street where he was last located. Where his office had previous occupied was a pile of garbage and pieces of the wall. 'What did Willy say? Wolfhart&Ram? NO! Woldram&Hart.' She ran to a telephone booth to look up the address.

When she got there a few minutes later, the first thing she noticed was Wesley walking into the tall building.

"Wes! Hey, Wes!" She called out to him. He turned around and saw a blonde girl running up to him.

"Buffy? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to avert the apocalypse. Where is Angel?"

"He is up stairs getting inaugurated or something like that. I'll take you to him."

"So what do you do here at this crazy law firm?" She asked gaping at the size.

"So you already know it is evil?" Wes questioned.

"No I just hate lawyers. So it's evil? The people or the building?"

"Probably both," said a voice from behind them.

"Hello, Angel. I need your help. What do you know about the seal of Dazalthar and the first, except for the obvious?"

"I don't know but I do know who does." Angel led them into a room which Buffy knew was the C.E.O.'s office. Actually she just read the sign on the door.

"Buffy, this is Lilah. Lilah, Buffy the-"

"Vampire Slayer." Lilah finished. "I know why you are here and I can't help you. But the Senior Partners in the white room can help. Angel took her up to the white room." Angel led Buffy into the elevator and pulled out a white piece of paper. Then he hit a bunch of buttons. When he was done a big button appeared and Angel pushed it. No sooner did he push it did they become enveloped in white light.

"Hello, Buffy killers of the vampyres." Buffy turned around. Angel saw her face a willed him self to also turn around and face the figure she saw.

When Angel turned around he saw a sight so beautiful that he could not control the smile that was slowly creeping up his face. The sight of a little girl identical to the woman, Joyce, basking in golden light was enough to make him cry, let alone Buffy. He looked over to her and sure enough he saw tears streaming down her face.

"Mommy?" Buffy asked.

"No sorry, I am only one of the Senior Partners, in fact one of the nicer ones, Hart. I can take the form of a soul that has passed. I am pleased that I was aloud to occupy this form. Joyce, as you call her, was a great asset to your power and if she was not around then you would not have played an important part of this apocalypse." She looked over to Angel then back at Buffy.

"I don't understand," Buffy said.

"You will, when it is time. I know why you have come. You seek information about the demon Danzalthar and the seal it resides in. I can not tell you much. I can tell you that you can find more information from the Senior Partner in Rome. His name is Wolf. He is too devious and I do not suggest you approach him lightly. He is a brutal one.

"Also the seal must only be destroyed by you and at the most two friends, only that friend must be human. I suggest the people be of great knowledge. You will have a tough time, but you may not contact anyone from here or Sunnydale. I wish you luck, Slayer." With that the little girl vanished into thin air and Buffy and Angel were standing in the middle of his new office, Lilah sitting behind the desk.

"So what did you learn up there?" Lilah questioned.

"Nothing that concerns you." Angel spat at her. "Buffy, take Wes and Fred with you. They are the smartest of my crew."

"But are they street smart or book smart?"

"Wes is both and Fred is a science genius. She can help you with translating a research. Wes is strong so he can protect Fred in a battle, if one comes up. I with I could come with you, but, you heard what she said." Angel moved in to kiss her, but Buffy stopped him.

"Angel, I am in love with Spike." She said softly.

"That's great Buffy. I hope we can still be friends. You know you can always count on me to back you up." Buffy looked at him with surprise. That was not the type of reaction she was looking for. Yelling, throwing, and broodiness- now that she could handle but not this.

"Angel? Is that really you in there?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if there was anything left for us, when I tried to kiss you. I think that I am deeply in love with Cordelia." Buffy started to laugh.

"Cordelia? The Cordelia? Wow, Angel. I am really happy for you. Or at least I will be when I stop laughing." She finally calmed down and was about to tell him she was sincerely happy for them when she was cut off.

"Did you guys forget I was in the room?" Lilah asked

"No, just hoping you would leave on your own accord," Angel said. "Well, Buffy, you better be gong."

"Yeah, see you around." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away.

"Buffy!" She turned around back at Angel. "Go save the world." She smiled a nice, gentle, warm smile and left.

**--------------------------------------**

Spike was ready to leave all the Potentials and the Scobbies pack away on a nice tinted Grey Hound bus. _This is going to be a great ride! _He started driving away, glancing back to the people, making sure they were comfortable. _Not that I care, but Buffy would want them to be. _

"Spike where are we going?" Dawn asked from the seat closest to him.

"Don't know niblet. What's your fancy?"

"I say we go to Louisiana."

"No too many vampires, you know the whole Anne Rice thing. Let's go to Orlando. That could be fun."

"Yes please!" Spike went on the intercom and reported that they would be heading to Florida and that Giles would be helping with the driving.

"Oh, no the last time I drove a vehicle this big, I almost died."

"Too bad." But he was barley heard for all the girls, including Faith wanted to hear that story. As the story was ending with the part where Buffy died the whole bus was in tears, Spike and Dawn trying to hide it but having no such luck.

_What a great beginning, _Spike thought.

-------------------------------------------

Buffy, Fred, and Wes were on WolfRam&Hart's private jet. They were traveling to Rome where they would seek the Senior Partner, Wolf, if that was even his real name. Buffy had given Wes and Fred the scroll to see if they would come up with anything different than Willy did. Not that she didn't trust Willy, oh yeah it was that she didn't trust Willy. It was late when they left LA; around 11:30 pm. Angel had helped them load all the pieces of the Danzalthar into the jet. But then he had to leave, because, well, Ram had said that only humans could help her.

She was still stumped about what the girl had said about her mother helping Buffy play an important part in the apocalypse. It aggravated her that she had her life was, yet again, a pawn in some evil plan. _'When will they ever learn not to mess with the Slayer?'_ she asked herself. But something about this one really got to her. The oh-so-special feeling of defeat had nestled into the air around her. _'No I will win. I have to win. For Dawn, for me, for Spike.' _She never knew that she could love someone as much as she loved Spike. She always loved him, she realized. Some where, deep down, she knew that Spike and she were meant to be together, always. It was inevitable.

'_But what if she didn't make it, again? What if this would be my last battle? Would my friends ever forgive me? Would they be able to let me move on? No, they probably wouldn't let me rest. But, would Spike stop them this time? Would he let me finally have my long deserved rest?'_ All these thought were taking a toll on Buffy. She had to get out of them.

"Buffy!" Wes called her out of her reserve. '_Thank God' _she thought. "Buffy, we found something!" Buffy made her way over to Wes and his computer. Fred was in the bathroom, having trouble with airplanes. '_Poor girl,' _Buffy commented to herself.

"What did you find, Wes? Anything I can use?" she asked with a hopeful face.

"Well, yes I actually did find something that you can use," Wes answered. Buffy noticed that most of his British stuck-up-snob look had disappeared throughout the years. Buffy for one was glad about that. It really aggravated her when he had lived in good ole Sunny-D. She also noticed that Giles had lost some, too, but not as much as Wes. '_I remember something about one of Angel's talks that had something to do with Wes stealing a baby of some sort. I'll ask Fred when she is feeling better.' _They still had a few more hours till they would land in Roma.

"Yeah, this First or whatever, as you know it is incorporeal ad can take the form of any dead spirit it wishes. Since you have died, it can even take yours. You might want to call up your friends and warn them about that. Anyways, this first, it has a man that helps it. Not a demon, a human, the man acts as its vessel. With all the power the first has. You must kill him before you can even attempt to kill the first and its armies."

"Hey, guys I think that this plane is really evil, also. I am never plane sick and here I am puking my darn guts out," Fred said as she walked out of the bathroom, hands placed lightly as if she was trying to push in her flat stomach. She noticed Buffy and Wes hovered over the computer and turned a bright red color, heat seeping into her face. "Sorry ya'll. I didn't know that you two were talking about something important. My mistake, I'll just go sit over here." She made her way over to a seat about five rows up from Buffy.

"No, Fred, you may need to hear this, too," Wes said.

"About that vessel," Buffy started. "I think that I may have already killed him. Back in Sunnydale, there was this preacher guy, Caleb, in a vineyard, praising the first like it was some sort of god."

"Yes, that does sound like the vessel," Wes simply stated. They remained quite for a while, and then Wes went into the bathroom. Buffy moved to go sit next to Fred, wanting to ask her some questions, child-taking-Wesley for starters.

"Fred?" Buffy asked as she approached the young girl.

"What?"

"A while back, Angel said that Wes had something to do with a child taking thing? Would you know anything about that?"

"Yeah that was the time that Wes went all evil on us for a while after the incident. You see, Wes had taken Angel's son-." Suddenly, Fred stopped talking and looked a little dizzy.

"Fred? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Buffy. What was I talking about?" asked the young brunette.

"Ummm… something about Angel's kid…"

"Angel never had a kid. Unless he had one before I met him."

"You just told me about him." Buffy paused to overview the situation. Obviously something had gone wrong with Fred. _'Well she was talking about Angel's son. Why don't I ask him about it?' _Buffy dialed up Angel's number at the law firm which he had given her when they had left. She walked away so that she could talk in private.

Phone conversation

"Hello WolfRam&Hart, Angle speaking. How may I help you?"

"Wow, Angel, so phone answering like."

"Buffy? What's wrong?"

"Nothing I just want to ask you a question, peaches."

"Peaches?"

"I just wanted to see how it felt like rolling off my tongue. Now I know why Spike likes to call you that. Anyways, I was talking to Fred, asking her about Wesley, and your son came up. But then, a few seconds later, she fazed and didn't remember you had a son. Want to explain this to me?" Buffy could almost see his hesitation.

"I-I had a spell done. So that Conner, my son could have a normal life without having to know about all this stuff going on here. Please do not lecture me about all this. I have enough guilt on my own accord. To think that I will not see my only son ever again, it hurts me. Please do not tell anyone about him."

"Okay, Angel, I won't tell. But that does not mean that I am okay with this. If I get back, we'll talk about it. For now I won't mention it at all."

"Buffy, I think you mean when you get back."

"I don't know, Angel. I just don't know." Buffy hung up the phone, not waiting for a comment from Angel or saying goodbye. Buffy sat in her seat thoughts about Danzalthar, Angel, and her friends ran through her head. Finally, her thoughts landed on Spike before she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
